


End of an Era

by Socc1622



Category: Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson fandom, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:27:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23558335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Socc1622/pseuds/Socc1622
Summary: Just a quick one shot I wrote about the GOATs NT retirement.
Relationships: Magdalena Eriksson/Pernille Harder
Kudos: 31





	End of an Era

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is more than welcome and a huge thank you to Olay (for the sake of not using her real name) for always reading my stuff.

This was it. 

This would be the last time Pernille would be putting on a Danish jersey and the captain's armband. 

She had been representing her country since she was 15 years old and now she’d be playing one last time in the final of the Euros. 

It was a bittersweet moment. On one hand, she knew it was time to retire from international football. 

She was ready to walk away as Denmark’s most capped player and top scorer. 

It was time to just focus on Magda and their twin boys as well as just club football. 

It seemed like so long ago when football came before everything. Even before her relationship but times changed. 

Now Magda and their boys came first, football was always second. 

Deep down she knew that retiring from the international game also meant that she probably only had a couple years of club football left. 

But she pushed that thought aside. 

She slipped on her cleats with a small Danish flag and “Harder” embroidered on them. 

Next she taped her finger where her wedding ring and engagement ring would be and finally she slipped on her jersey. It was crisp and fresh and had never been worn before. 

Pernille came into the national team as Pernille Harder but she would be leaving it as Pernille Eriksson. 

Her mind wandered to the night before, after she showed both her parents and Magda’s parents the jersey along with the little ones she had gotten for Oskar and Lucas. 

There were nothing but smiles. 

She was so grateful that both of their families along with the boys were able to be here with her. 

Magda, Oskar and Lucas had been with her for the entire time as well as her parents.

Being at a major tournament with 3 year old twins wasn’t easy but Pernille wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

The perks of being one of the world’s best was that she got a room to herself for the tournament so Magda and the boys could stay with her, Except on nights before a game, only Magda would stay with her while Oskar and Lucas stayed with her parents. 

Tonight would be no different. Magda would stay with her while Magda’s parents would take the boys for the night this time after dinner.. 

After a quick goodbye, she rushed back to their room with the jersey and boys in tow and placed it on the bed. 

“Are you guys ready surprise momma?”

“Yes! We’re ready mummy”

“Now remember, when she walks in, you’ll have to rush to the door okay and I’ll be waiting out here okay? And once she sees it, you guys go change into your jerseys, I’ve left them in the bathroom. Think you can do that?”

She got two very enthusiastic nods while they took a seat on the couch. 

Now all they had to do was wait for Magda to get back from the store. 

She sat next to the jersey and ran her fingers over the “Eriksson” and smiled. 

For the past six years she had been Eriksson on paper but kept playing with Harder on the back of her jersey. 

The end of this era also marked the beginning of a new one. 

It was her way of thanking Magda for all of the sacrifices she had made for them and for being her biggest supporter and rock through it all. 

Magda, who had been the love of her life since they were two twenty something year olds with nothing but dreams. Magda who had been okay with the fact of putting their careers before their relationship not knowing when and if they would play for the same club again. 

They had survived living apart more time than they had lived together and it wasn’t something that was easy. 

It came nearly close to breaking them once but their love had gotten them through until Pernille’s blockbuster move to Chelsea that saw her become the most expensive female football player of all time. But more importantly, it saw them at the same club again. 

Magda who had made the decision to retire in her prime to be a stay at home mom when they found out they were expecting so that Pernille could keep living her dreams. 

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. 

“P. It’s me, open up, I forgot my key.”

“We’ll get it! We’re coming momma”

She saw two little blonde heads rush to the door. 

“Momma, we have a surprise for you! But you have to close your eyes.”

“Close my eyes? What is this surprise?”

“We can’t tell you. That’ll ruin it. Now please close your eyes. Mummy’s waiting” 

“Alright, I’ll close them. Lead the way”

Once Magda and the boys were in view, Pernille gave them the thumbs up.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now momma”

The boys rushed off to change.

She smiled before raising her eyebrow. 

“P. What’s this? I’m okay with wearing my Harder jersey.” 

Pernille took a step toward Magda before taking Magda’s hands in hers. 

“I’ll be playing my last game for Denmark and the final tomorrow as an Eriksson and once the club season starts back up, I’ll be playing as an Eriksson too.” 

Magda gasped and Pernille could see the tears forming. 

“It’s a small thank you for everything you’ve done. You didn’t have to give up your career when I got pregnant but you did it for us. You let me put football first for so many years and let me keep following my dreams after Lucas and Oskar were born. I know it was your choice and you didn’t have to do that but you did and I’m more thankful than you’ll ever know. I came into this game as a Harder but I’ll leave it with our last name because none of this would have been possible without you.”

Magda pulled her into a tight hug and buried her face into Pernille’s neck. 

Pernille could feel Magda’s tears on her neck and she pulled her closer. 

“Thank you” was all Magda whispered before pulling Pernille in for a kiss. 

Pernille almost immediately tangled her hands in Magda’s hair. She groaned as Magda began running her fingers típs under Pernille’s shirt. 

Magda pulled away and leaned her forehead against Pernille’s. 

Moments later heard the bathroom door open and the boys came running out.

“Momma look. Look at the back of our jerseys. We all have the same name now.” Lucas exclaimed while the both turned around. 

“You really want to make me cry as many times as you can before the final huh?” Magda chuckled as she wiped away more tears. 

They soon felt two boys at their legs and scooped them up for a hug. 

Pernille was snapped out of her thoughts when the coach came in and to let them know that it was time..

They didn’t need any pregame pep talks, the fact that they were facing the Netherlands was enough. 

Even though years had passed, the memory of losing the final still stung. 

It was time for revenge. Pernille wanted to walk away a winner. 

As they headed to the tunnel, the emotions finally hit Pernille. This was it, after this she was hanging up her international boots. 

She had made the decision to not announce her retirement until after the game. Win or lose, this would be her last game. The federation wanted to do something before but she asked them to wait and celebrate once it was over. She just wanted her teammates and her family around. 

They had insisted on at least presenting her with flowers and a plaque after the game but she managed to talk them into doing it in the locker room. 

She didn’t want to take away from the outcome and wanted to announce it via an interview first. 

She took a deep breath as they were walking out and went to line up for the anthems. After a quick scan of the crowd, she found Magda and the boys. She saw their families too. 

No matter how big the stadiums were that she played at, she could always find Magda and her boys. It was almost like a sixth sense, she could find them anywhere. This was who she played for and he was going to leave it all out on this pitch for them. 

She knew she would have questions about the change of last name since she hadn’t posted anything on Instagram. She had something in her drafts of why she had made the change and that she was retiring but it would be sent out after the game along with the results. 

She shook hands with the Dutch captain, won the coin toss and the game was off. 

Magda watched on while Oskar was sitting on her lap and yelling “go mummy”. 

Lucas had decided he wanted to sit on his mormor’s lap. 

Magda glanced down and saw her son’s head follow his mummy around the field, she knew Lucas would be doing the same. 

Ever since the first game she had brought the boys to, their eyes always followed Pernille. They loved watching her play. Especially Oskar, there were times where she found Pernille in their living room watching old games on a Saturday to see where she could improve and Oskar would be right there with her, sitting on her lap. It had become their own special time. 

Magda was pulled out of her thoughts when Pernille’s shot went wide. 

“No! Too wide mummy” Oskar yelled as he buried his face in his hands. 

Magda chuckled, that was definitely something that he had learned from Pernille.

It might have been a wide shot but she knew there was still plenty of time for Pernille to score.  
Pernille fell to her knees as the final whistle blew. They did it, Denmark had done it. She felt her team pile on top of her. 

The game had been close, the Netherlands had almost scored in the first half and Pernille had a ball hit the crossbar. It wasn’t until a minute before extra time was over that she got the perfect cross and smashed it in. 

She couldn’t stop the tears but this time they were happy tears. 

After shaking hands with her opponents and hugging a few she knew. 

She searched and found Magda, who was wiping away tears. She ran over to give her a quick hug and kiss to her and the boys. She hugged her parents and Magda’s, as well as their siblings before making her way back to the field for a quick interview before the medal ceremony. 

It fielded the usual questions about how she felt but she knew the reporter well enough to privately ask her to come back to her after the medal ceremony because she had an announcement to make. 

The medal ceremony felt surreal, she still couldn’t believe they had done it. Every single sacrifice she had made was worth it, hell, even fighting with the federation had been worth it. 

Lifting the trophy was something she would never forget. 

Any tiredness she had felt after the game had disappeared. 

After the formalities of pictures she went to find her family again. This time they all got proper hugs and Magda got a proper kiss. 

She took the boys from Magda and brought them onto the field. 

They knew anytime their mummy played, they got to go onto the field and they loved it. 

Pernille set them down and they went to say hi to the other girls, they even knew some Dutch players from the WSL and they hugged them too. 

She laughed, her sons were definitely more social than she was and they were only two years old. 

She spotted the reporter making way to her and smiled. 

It was time to announce it. 

Just as Pernille was starting her interview Oskar came barreling into her and demanded to be picked up. It wouldn’t be the first time she did an interview with Oskar in her arms. 

She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Lucas was with one of the girls. 

“Pernille I know we talked a bit earlier but once again, congratulations. I’m sure I don’t need to ask how you’re feeling again but I did have a new question, what made you switch to Eriksson for the final? Your son is adorable by the way, they both are” 

“Thank you. Well, the switch is actually tied to the announcement I wanted to make. I chose to switch to Eriksson because this was my final game for the national team. I’ve been Eriksson outside of football since I got married but it was time to make the change. It’s my small way of thanking Magda, my wife, for everything she’s done. You’ve mentioned before that she retired early to stay at home with the children and I owe it all to her support. I walked into the game as a Harder but I want to leave it as an Eriksson. It’ll be changed on my club jersey as well.” Pernille replied trying to hold back tears. 

The reporter was a bit shocked. 

“Oh wow! Retirement? Here I thought, you were maybe w announcing a new contract or club, but oh my. Then I have to say, congratulations on a wonderful international career. It’s definitely a way to go out. Was this decision based on the win or was it something that’s been on your mind for a while?” 

“Thank you. It certainly is a way to go.” Pernille chuckled. 

“But no, it wasn’t based on the win today, I was going to do it regardless. I’ve been thinking about it for about the last year but I knew I wanted one last chance at the Euros. So when the tournament started, I let the team and the federation know that whether we made it to the finals or not, that this would be my last time with the team. My sons are getting older and the club already takes me away from my family a lot already. I don’t want to keep being away longer for international duties. It’s just time, I’ve been on the national team since I was 15 and it’s my time to go. I know I’m leaving the team in good hands.”

“Oh wow. We’ll definitely miss watching you play at the international level and especially since you still appear to be in your prime. Does this mean you’ll be leaving club football soon too? You still have two years on your contract”

Before Pernille could answer, Lucas had made his way to her and she picked him up too. 

“No, I don’t know when I’ll be leaving club football yet. For now I’m going to enjoy this win and take a vacation with my family before the season starts back up.”

“Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me again and make the announcement. Once again, congratulations on the win and enjoy yourself. International women’s football will definitely miss the one of the greatest of all time.”

Pernille thanked her and walked back to the stands where her family was but not before pausing and taking another look around. 

She couldn’t stop the tears again. 

“Mummy. Don’t cry. Mummy sad?” Oskar asked her as he wiped away her tears. 

“No, no. Mummy’s happy! Mummy won”. 

There came two sets of claps before they both gave her a kiss on the cheek. 

“All better. Kisses make things better mummy”. 

She knew it was time to walk away but it still hurt. She was ready for it though and she had two of the biggest reasons for doing so in her arms. 

After the ceremony and the locker room party,it was time for the team party with all their families. 

There was some media and of course Pernille got asked more about retirement but she kept it brief. She wanted to enjoy her time and she knew the next few days were going to be nothing but interviews and retirement would be brought up. 

She and her teammates deserved the right to let off the steam. They had just fucking won! 

Although halfway through the party Magda huskily whispered “keep that medal on. Remember my bronze in 2019? We’ll have to recreate it.”

Pernille’s mouth went dry, yep winning was definitely great.


End file.
